Greg Cox - Blood Enemy, Book 2

A full moon shone down on the graveyard of history.

Statue Parkor Szoborpark, as it was known to localswas a repository forall the immense Communist monuments that had once dominated the Hungarian capital during the long years of Soviet oppression. After the Communists were finally ousted, their imposing statuary was removed from perches throughout the city and exiled to this desolate field on the outskirts of Budapest, surrounded by red brick walls and industrial-strength power lines. Now towering figures of Marx, Lenin, Engels, and other heroes of revolution, arranged in overlapping rings, stared silently at one another, condemned to eternal obsolescence and irrelevance.

By day, Statue Park was a popular tourist attraction, luring curious hordes to gawk at the outmoded monuments. But tonight, only a few minutes short of midnight, the park was totally deserted.

Or, at least, it appeared to be.

Selene hid behind a huge bronze portrait of a flag-waving revolutionary. Her dark brown hair and glossy black trench coat blended with the shadows cast by the lambent moon as she kept careful watch over the park below. A pair of matching Berettas were holstered beneath her coat, and her slender fingers gripped an expensive night-vision camera. She waited impatiently for an opportunity to use both the camera and the guns.

Especially the guns.

She paid no heed to the monuments looming around her, whose historical significance meant little to her. The Cold War may have ended, but her own war continued, just as it had for the better part of a thousand years. A shadow war fought by immortal creatures of the night, vampires versus werewolves.

Soon, she thought. Tonights prey had not yet arrived, but if herinformants were to be believed, it would not be much longer now. Lets hopeour intel is correct. She ran her tongue over her fangs in anticipation of the hunt to come. Beneath her oiled black leathers, her lithe body was tensed for action. I havent killed a lycan in weeks.

As a Death Dealer, a member of an elite corps of vampire warriors, Selene was sworn to the destruction of her peoples ancient foes. For centuries, she hadknown no other callingnor had she desired any.

She glanced across the empty park, checking to see if her partner was in place. Directly opposite her, on the other side of the park, a large granite bust of a forgotten Communist leader looked out over the gravel pathways winding around the collected monuments. Selene could not see Diego lurking behind the mammoth bust, so she raised her hand to signal him. Her smooth white fingers glowed like polished ivory in the moonlight.

An answering wave greeted her from across the way.

Good, she thought, lowering her hand. Everything was in order. A coolsummer breeze blew toward the rear of the park, carrying the scent of the two Death Dealers away from the front gate. With luck, the lycans would never know she and Diego were there, until it was too late. As long as the wind doesntshift, that is.

The sound of an approaching car sent her pulse racing. She ducked behind the bronze revolutionary, pressing her face and body against the cold metal as though to merge completely with the shadows draping the sheltering statue. Her own Jaguar was discreetly parked several blocks away in the adjacent housing complex.

A mud-spattered gray van stopped in front of the park, which was marked by a classical brick facade. Selene watched as the van disgorged a trio of shadowy figures, who furtively entered the park by means of an inconspicuous side door next to the main gate.

The trio consisted of two men and one woman, with feral eyes and sullen expressions. Their shabby brown leather jackets looked cheaper and grungier than Selenes own sleek black leathers. Typical lycan scum, she thought,studying the three intruders through the high-powered lens of her camera. Their human appearance did not deceive her. She knew lycanthropes when she saw them.

The mere sight of the creatures enraged her, and she had to fight the temptation to draw her Berettas and start filling the unsuspecting lycans with red-hot silver. Even after hundreds of years, her hatred of the loathsome beasts burned as fiercely as ever. The sooner they were all exterminated, the better.

But not just yet, she reminded herself. Tonights primary objective wasreconnaissance: to find out what the lycans were up to and perhaps even trail them back to their secret lair. Once she and Diego discovered where the entire pack was hiding, they could lead a squadron of Death Dealers in to clean out the den completelybut only if she could be patient. I have to let these threelivefor nowif I want to kill them all later on.

That didnt make holding her fire any easier.

The three lycans reached the center of the park, a small island of grass surrounded by gravel, and looked around suspiciously. Where is he? the womanasked. Her greasy blond hair looked as if it hadnt seen a comb in weeks.

Hell be here, one of the men said gruffly. From his tone and posture,Selene guessed he was the alpha male. A muscular black man with a shaven skull, he had possibly the deepest voice she had ever heard. His right hand gripped the handle of a scuffed leather briefcase. Just be ready.

You bet, the second male said. Spiky black hair, Caucasian features, and aslighter build distinguished him from his leader. A gold tooth glittered in the moonlight.

He and the female drew automatic pistols from beneath their jackets, while the bald lycan rested his briefcase on the ground beside his boots. Wary eyes scanned the moonlit park, forcing Selene to retreat farther behind the tarnished bronze proletarian.

The female Death Dealer silently cursed the glowing orb overhead. The full moon posed a double threat to her; not only did it increase her risk of exposure, but it also meant that her lycan targets were at their most dangerous. It was surely no coincidence that the lycans had chosen tonight of all nights to venture out into the open.

If the wind shifted, Selene understood, things could get hairy, in more ways than one.

The sound of a second vehicle approaching distracted the lycans from their relentless scrutiny of their surroundings, much toSelenes relief. She swung her camera toward the parking lot, where a gleamingblack limousine had pulled up in front of the gate. Four passengers emerged from the limo.

The new arrivals turned out to be a middle-aged human male accompanied by three thuggish bodyguards. Selene recognized the older man as Leonid Florescu, a well-known arms dealer. A stout man in an expensive silk suit, Florescu had ruddy skin and slicked-back silver hair. His well-groomed appearance stood in marked contrast to the scruffy attire of the waiting lycans, not to mention that of his own hulking bodyguards.

Leonid himself, right on schedule, Selene thought with satisfaction. Shemade sure to get a good shot of the mortals florid countenance. Seems my informant knew what she was talking about.

Florescu and his goons joined the three lycans at the center of the park. Facing off in the moonlight, the two parties exchanged intimidating glares and scowls. Florescus men drew their own guns in imitation of the armed lycans.

The alpha-male lycan did not waste time with small talk. Do you have thesample? he demanded. His basso profundo voice echoed in the stillness of thenight.

Of course, Florescu replied. Despite his confident tone, Selene detected anote of trepidation in his voice. She didnt blame him; bodyguards or not, anyone of the lycans could easily reduce him to a midnight snack. Im aprofessional.